PALMER STATION
SCIENCE SITREP OCT 1995
The following science projects were active at Palmer Station during
the month:
S-019 REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY OF FREE-LIVING ADELIE PENGUINS
AT TORGERSEN ISLAND, ANTARCTICA. Carol Vleck, Iowa State
University, Ames, Iowa, 5001.
PERSONNEL ON STATION: Carol Vleck, Theresa Bucher, Wendy Reed, and
Asrun Krismundsdottir.
The four members of our team boarded the Polar Duke in Punta Arenas
on 2 October, 1995, and arrived at Palmer Station on 8 October,
1995. For the first week the fast ice between Palmer and Torgersen
was considered unsafe because of warm rain and wind. We calibrated
equipment and assembled our field and laboratory gear. The harbor
was clear enough that we completed our boating instruction on 12
October and visited Torgersen briefly on 13 October. Very few
Adelie penguins were present. Subsequent cold conditions resulted
in freezing of the harbor, and no more boating was possible through
the rest of October. The sea ice was considered safe for foot
travel on 14 October, and that afternoon we began preparation of a
site for a Scott tent on the edge of our study area. Erection of
the tent on a new wooden foundation was completed on 17 October.
Beginning on 15 October we worked each day on the island, reaching
it by foot across the fast ice. During this interval the number of
Adelie penguins on the non-restricted side of Torgersen grew from
less than 20 to several thousand.
During the 17 days we spent in the field, we banded 224 penguins.
Each bird was weighed, and morphological measurements were taken.
Many were birds just arriving on the island. We caught these birds
near the tent as they traveled from the shore to the sub-colonies
under observation. In addition we banded most of their apparent
mates by locating the banded birds in the colonies under
observation and banding the birds with which they were defending a
territory. In 25 newly arriving individuals we used deuterium
dilution for later estimation of water and fat content. Each day
we completed a census of banded birds in our colonies. We
estimated the size of the colonies and identified all pairs of
birds, including those which had switched partners, lost a mate, or
moved. In addition we obtained 132 blood samples which will be
used to measure the level of reproductive and stress hormones. The
cellular portion of the blood has been preserved for DNA analysis.
By the end of October we had identified over 30 focal pairs of
birds located in 13 sub colonies. We began behavioral observations
of courtship and aggression in these focal birds and resampled
levels of reproductive hormones during this stage in approximately
6 birds. For two newly arriving birds we obtained a series of
blood samples over the course of approximately 40 minutes to
measure hormonal response to handling stress. We also identified
and banded another approximately 40 pairs of birds which will not
be bled serially, but will be censused regularly and used for
control birds or will be sampled later during the incubation stage.
S-024 ANTARCTIC MARINE ARCHAEBACTERIA; BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES
AND ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE. Edward DeLong, University of
California, Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara, California
93106.
PERSONNEL ON STATION: Edward DeLong, Alison Murray, Christina
Preston.
October activities for S-024 (DeLong) included the continued
collection of microbial biomass from the Arthur Harbor region for
studies of archaebacterial activity, abundance, biological
properties and diversity. Due to ice conditions, only two days of
zodiac operations were possible, so the bulk of operations were
performed on sea ice. We gratefully acknowledge Ken Earle (wearing
his "GSAR" team leader hat) and Don Ferris, station manager, for
their expert advice and assistance in all aspects of our sea ice
operations. Microbial biomass for small (20 l) and larger scale
analyses (100 l) was collected from two depths at each site, using
submersible pumps lowered into holes drilled in the ice. Three
stations, one near LTER's Station A, one between Litchfield and
Breaker Islands, and one in Loudwater Cove, were established and
sampled in October. Ancillary data recovered along with biomass
collection included total bacterial cell counts, bottom depth,
temperature and salinity data, and chlorophyll concentrations.
One sample per week (100 l) was also collected before sunset at
Station A, fractionated into > 0.8um and > 0.2 um size classes,
and stored frozen for UV-induced DNA damage studies being conducted
by Dr. Wade Jeffrey (S-200). In addition, larger scale collection
and concentration of bacterioplankton (1000 to 2000 l) was also
conducted from the Palmer Station seawater pumphouse (aka "SSL
field office", aka "Club Ed"), for subsequent genetic analyses,
lipid compositional studies, and detection and measurement of
archaebacterial-specific metabolic activities.
On site analyses and preliminary results resulting from S-024s
October activities include the following :
1) Extraction of nucleic acids and archaebacterial detection via
pcr analysis
Nucleic acids from selected filters were extracted and
analyzed by the polymerase chain reaction (pcr) using eubacterial
and archaebacterial specific, ribosomal RNA gene primers. The
results indicate the presence of a high proportion of
archaebacteria in surface waters of the Arthur Harbor, similar to
that obtained in late winter 1993 in the same area. These results
will be verified and extended by quantitation of the relative
percentage of archaebacterial ribosomal RNA present in the same
nucleic acid extracts. These results were also supported by
single-cell, fluorescent in situ hybridization analyses (see 3
below).
2) Spatial and temporal survey of picoplankton genetic diversity
via denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (Alison Murray)
Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) is a recently
developed electrophoretic technique, which allows rapid detection
of DNA variants. Although it was initially developed for its
powerful capacity to rapidly detect single point mutations which
cause specific genetic diseases, this technique is now being
usefully applied to more general ecological questions relating to
naturally-occurring genetic diversity. An application of DGGE
which we are exploring is the survey of naturally-occurring
microbial diversity. Using this technique on Station, we have
conducted preliminary surveys on the diversity and composition of
picoplankton populations collected in transit to and in the area
surrounding Palmer Station. The following preliminary conclusions
have resulted from our October studies at Palmer Station using pcr
and DGGE:
a) The diversity and composition of eubacterial planktonic
assemblages in Drakes Passage changes across the Antarctic
Convergence. Some eubacterial types appear in common amongst all
samples collected across the Drake transect. The preliminary data
indicate that the Polar Front may serve as a microfaunal, as well
as macrofaunal transition zone. This hypothesis requires further
testing.
b) Eubacteria in late winter plankton assemblages in Arthur Harbor
are spatially (horizontally and vertically) and temporally
homogeneous. However, the total diversity contained within the
late winter Antarctic eubacterial picoplankton as estimated by DGGE
is reasonably high. Patterns of eubacterial diversity in Arthur
harbor in late winter 1993 are similar to that seen in late winter
1995.
c) Archaebacteria in late winter plankton assemblages in Arthur
Harbor are also spatially (horizontally and vertically) and
temporally homogeneous. The total diversity contained within
the late winter Antarctic archaebacterial picoplankton, as
estimated by DGGE, is however much lower than that found in the
corresponding eubacteria. Patterns of archaebacterial diversity in
Arthur Harbor in late winter 1993 are similar to those seen in late
winter 1995.
3) Single cell enumeration of archaebacteria using ribosomal RNA
targeted, fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide probes and
epifluorescence microscopy (Christina Preston)
Using fluorescently labeled, group-specific, rRNA targeted
oligonucleotide probes, we successfully conducted our first
field-based estimation of archaebacterial cell densities. These
data will allow better interpretation of spatial and temporal
variability of these prokaryotes, since absolute archaebacteial
cell numbers, as opposed to relative rRNA percentages, can now be
estimated. In situ hybridization using "universal" probes (which
recognize all cells) labeled between 50 to 70 % of the total cell
population enumerated by DAPI staining. Of those cells,
up to 19 % were identified as archaebacteria by simultaneous
hybridization with eubacterial-specific and
archaebacterial-specific probes labeled with different
fluorochromes. Archaebacteria were identified as those cells
which bound the archaebacterial-specific but not
eubacterial-specific probes. These data are consistent with
estimates of archaebacterial abundance from 1993 winter samples,
and our preliminary pcr results of 1995. These data will
be compared with analyses performed at UCSB, which quantify the
relative percentage of archaebacterial rRNA obtained in nucleic
acid extracts from the same samples.
4) Detection of archaebacterial metabolic activities in mixed
populations
Amino acid incorporation into bacterioplankton protein
fractions was followed in the presence and absence of eubacterial
and eukaryotic specific protein synthesis inhibitors. Initially,
low overall rates and low signal to noise were obtained due to
the combination of low cell numbers and low incubation temperatures
of -1.5 Celsius. This problem was overcome by using highly
concentrated cell preparations. Using this approach,
both uninhibited and antibiotic inhibited amino acid incorporation
rates were easily measurable. Eubacterial protein synthesis
inhibitors had a differential effect on the incorporation of
leucine versus glutamate. Antibiotics which specifically target
eubacterial ribosomes inhibited > 90 % incorporation of leucine
incorporation into protein. Glutamate incorporation however, using
the same cell population measured at the same time, was inhibited
by only 50%. There appears to be a large difference in the
relative incorporation rates of various amino acids in the presence
of eubacterial specific protein synthesis inhibitors. The
incorporation of some amino acids appears relatively resistant to
known eubacterial protein synthesis inhibitors. Our present
hypothesis is that a component of the population, specifically the
archaebacteria, preferentially incorporates glutamate relative to
leucine, which results in the observed insensitivity of glutamate
incorporation to eubacterial protein synthesis inhibitors. It may
soon be possible to correlate this "activity" signal with other
relevant parameters, such as archaebacterial cell abundance.
Summary
Though abbreviated due to the heavy ice conditions, the late
winter/early spring field season has been truly productive for team
S-024. This is largely thanks to the cooperation of the weather in
the last half of deployment, and all the fine support provided by
ASA personnel. Special thanks to Don Ferris, Marian Moyher and Ken
Earle for their super effort and cooperation, both in the field and
in the lab.
S-045F LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC
MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (SEABIRD COMPONENT).
William R. Fraser and Wayne Z. Trivelpiece, Montana State
University, Bozeman, MT.
PERSONNEL ON STATION: Eric Holm, Karen Carney, John Carlson.
The three members of S-045F left Punta Arenas on October 3 and
arrived at Palmer Station on October 8 after a smooth Drake Passage
crossing. We arrived to find Arthur Harbor completely covered in
fast ice and sea ice looming as far as the eye could see. The only
open water was within the Palmer Station 2 mile boating limit.
Since our arrival the fast ice has kept its integrity and we have
been able to ski or walk to Torgersen, Humble, and Litchfield
Islands, as well as Norsel Point. Thus, we have been able to
monitor the arrival of Adelie Penguins on all three islands
unhindered. A timely but short retreat in the sea ice allowed a
window for boating tests to be conducted but to date only one
boating excursion has been conducted by us.
As a matter of course in our daily field work we have been
censusing and making observations on marine mammals in the area.
This has brought to light two groups of pupping elephant seals. As
of this writing there is a harem on Torgersen Island with three
pups and another on Litchfield Island with three pups. All the
pups were born within the week.
Lab work has included intertidal limpet size distribution analysis
and south polar skua scat analysis.
S-045R LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE
ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED SYSTEM. Robin M. Ross and Langdon B.
Quetin, University of California, Marine Science Institute,
Santa Barbara, California 93106.
PERSONNEL ON STATION: Langdon Quetin (PI, Field Leader), Janice
Jones (shared with 045S), Laird MacDonald.
S-045R arrived at Palmer 8 Oct 95. Offload went quickly and
smoothly thanks to a magnificent effort by the Palmer Station
personnel. Fast ice in Arthur Harbor has prevented zodiac
operations so we have concentrated on unpacking, setting up the
lab, preparing for the LTER cruise in January, and orienting divers
to Antarctic conditions. W. Kozlowski (045V) and L. MacDonald have
completed two orientation dives with no difficulty. J. Jones will
complete orientation dives in early November. We anticipate diving
operations will increase in November. Installation of the seawater
temperature probe for the Hugo Island Automated Weather System is
on track for the January LTER cruise. Necessary materials have
been ordered by ASA and final schedules for fabrication and
equipment lists will be completed in November. We gave a science
lecture 27 Oct to station personnel about our diving techniques and
the importance of annual pack ice to krill. For most of the month
the weather has remained remarkably calm. Unless we get some
strong northeast winds the ice conditions are expected to continue.
S-045S LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH (LTER) ON THE ANTARCTIC
MARINE ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT. Ray Smith,
University of California, ICESS, Santa Barbara, CA 93106.
PERSONNEL ON STATION: Janice Jones (shared position with S-045R).
Field team leader Janice Jones arrived 8 Oct aboard the R/V POLAR
DUKE. The computers and printers have been set up in lab 2, and
have been successfully linked to the Palmer network. The Palmer
event log was ready to go, but the hard drive on the laptop crashed
and we are still looking for an alternative. The new Garmin GPS's
were taken up the glacier to set up their almanacs - a full 8
satellite lock in was achieved. Field sampling has not been
possible as yet due to ice. The ROZE zodiac equipment is being set
up in the blue boxes in lab 2. They will be ready for final
checkout prior to installing on the MK V zodiac within the next few
days. The blue boxes were refurbished (strengthened and repainted
- thanks go to Commander for his help in the Trade Shop) prior to
setup. Three fluorometers were set up and cross-calibrated with
the S-045V team. The chlorophyll filtration rig was set up in the
aquarium room and is ready for the first chlorophyll samples.
Thank you to the logistics people on station, as well as the POLAR
DUKE and in Punta Arenas for helping to make this season's
deployment a smooth and painless one!
S-045V LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON THE ANTARCTIC MARINE
ECOSYSTEM: AN ICE-DOMINATED ENVIRONMENT (PHYTOPLANKTON COMPONENT).
Maria Vernet, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
PERSONNEL ON STATION: Wendy Kozlowski, Cristine Moraes
S-045V departed Punta Arenas October 2, and after a smooth crossing
arrived at Palmer Station on the 8th of October. Though during the
first week at Palmer there was a brief break in ice coverage which
allowed initial stages of boating tests to be carried out, Arthur
Harbor has been frozen since then. Time has been dedicated to
laboratory and instrument setup and calibration, as well as method
and protocol establishment.
Instrument setup for photosynthetic pigment analysis by high
performance liquid chromatography is complete (with an upgraded
software and computer package) and standard curve and column
calibrations are currently being performed. Instrumentation for
nutrient analysis is set up, also with an upgraded software
package, and we are currently running analysis for nitrate,
nitrite, orthophosphate and silicate. The channel for ammonium
determination should be added as soon as necessary additional
equipment arrives from the states. Incubators and laboratory setup
is complete for primary productivity (radiocarbon uptake)
experiments (photosyntheses versus irradiance curves, simulated in
situ incubations, and growth rate determinations using carbon to
chlorophyll a ratios). The Legend (sampling zodiac) platform has
been assembled as well, and is ready to be put in the boat for the
start of water sampling (thank you Herb).
S-045V would also like to thank info-sys and lab support for
the cooperation and assistance in setting up the computer systems
in Lab 10.
S-091 PALMER IRIS SEISMOLOGY. R. Butler/G. Holcomb, U.S.
Geological Survey, Albuquerque, NM.
No personnel were on station.
The system has been operated by the station science technician.
Seismic events throughout the month were recorded. On 06 October
a planned power outage occurred from 0300 to 0645Z. The IRIS
system was powered by an UPS unit; however, the UPS, although
hooked to a generator, failed after about 20 minutes. An automatic
tape change occurred when the DP came back on line at
approximately 0647Z.
S-106 VERY LOW FREQUENCY (VLF) REMOTE SENSING OF THUNDERSTORM AND
RADIATION BELT COUPLING TO THE IONOSPHERE.
U. Inan, Stanford University.
No personnel were on station.
The system has been operated by the station science technician.
Synoptic, narrow band and broad-band recordings of VLF signals
were made on a daily basis. During the planned power outages on
05 and 06 October, the VLF system was powered by a generator.
Continuous broadband Beta tape recordings were restarted on 11
October.
S-254 CHLORINE- AND BROMINE-CONTAINING TRACE GASES IN
ANTARCTICA. R.A. Rasmussen, Oregon Graduate Institute for Science
and Technology, Portland, Oregon, 97291.
There are no personnel on station.
Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician.
The samples are returned to the Institute for analysis of a number
of trace components, especially chlorine- and bromine-containing
gases. These elements have been implicated in the chemical
processes that contribute to the austral-spring depletion of the
ozone layer over Antarctica. This work will contribute to a better
understanding of the buildup of trace constituents, particularly
those of high-latitude marine origin.
S-257C COLLECTION OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FOR THE NOAA/CMDL WORLDWIDE
FLASK SAMPLING NETWORK. James T. Peterson, Environmental Research
Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Boulder, CO 80303-3328.
There are no personnel on station.
Air samples are taken on a weekly basis by the station physician.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate
Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory team continue long-term
measurements of trace atmospheric constituents that influence
climate. The Palmer Station air samples are returned to the NOAA
laboratory for analysis of trace constituents, including carbon
dioxide. These measurements are part of NOAA's effort to determine
and assess the long-term buildup of global pollutants in the
atmosphere. These data will be used to determine how the rate of
change of these parameters affects climate, particularly by
including them in climate model studies.
S-275 UM/DOE-EML REMOTE ATMOSPHERIC MEASUREMENTS PROGRAM.
J. Prospero/T. Snowdon, University of Miami; C. Sanderson/
N. Chui, EML/DOE N.Y.
No personnel were on station.
The system has been operated by the station science technician.
One sample filter was exposed for the duration of each week, and
a weekly schedule of calibration, background, and sample counts
was maintained. Counting and filtration operations were suspended
on 05 October from 11:16pm (local) to 11:45pm due to a planned
power outage, and again on 06-07 October between 11pm and 3:45am.
The clock on the Zenith computer was adjusted forward one hour on
20 October for "daylight savings" time.
T-312 TERASCAN SATELLITE IMAGING SYSTEM. R. Whritner, Scripps
Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA.
No personnel were on station.
The system has been operated by the station science technician.
The TeraScan system collected, archived, and processed DMSP and
NOAA telemetry, maintaining a schedule of 15 passes per day. AWS
data was collected from the Bonaparte Point and Hugo Island
automatic weather stations in support of the LTER project.
Infrared, visible and passive microwave imagery was provided in
support of R/V POLAR DUKE and R/V NATHANIEL B. PALMER science and
operations. Ozone concentration data was derived from NOAA-12
telemetry, and provided to project S-200 in support of their
research efforts. Planned power outages resulted in a total of
three passes being preempted. Hard hangs of the Sun workstation
occurred three times during October, resulting in a total of 11
satellite pass losses. SCSI transport failure errors, most likely
due to dirty tape heads, were seen on two occasions. On 25 October
one pass collect failed for unknown reasons.
T-513 UV MONITORING EXPERIMENT. C. Booth, Biospherical
Instruments, Inc.
No personnel were on station.
The system has been operated by the station science technician.
Throughout the month, raw irradiance data were collected daily and
transmitted to BSI. Preliminary irradiance data and
inferred ozone abundances were produced in support of Science.
Absolute calibrations of the UV monitor were performed on
10 October and again on 20 October. The schedule of data
scans was expanded in response to the seasonal lengthening of
daylight hours, and the UV monitor's sensitivity was reduced due
to increases in solar irradiance. During the planned power outages
on 05 and 06 October, the UV monitor was powered by a generator.
On 16, 22, and 29 October ReadDAS errors were seen, cause unknown;
on 22 and 29 October these errors were also associated with AXSS
errors. On 17 October, the voltage setting for item #1 of the
response scan did not function properly; the system was reset and
the response scans worked fine thereafter. On 22 October, the
system was found in a locked-up state, with the screen blank; a
computer reboot fixed the problem, and only the 0000Z data scan was
missed. The cause of this sudden rash of errors and system
problems remains undetermined at this time.
03114146.388
PLM212.NOV